Two Greek Magical Papyri In The National Museum Of Antiquities In Leiden

I would like to extend my thanks to Dr. M.l Raven, the curator of the Egyptian Department of the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden, who granted permission to publish the photographs of J 384 and 395 and allowed me to inspect the originals, as weIl as to the museum's photographers, M.J. Bomhof and A. De Kemp, for providing the prints. My gratitude also goes to the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft for supporting this project, and to the Rheinisch-Westfälische Akademie der Wissenschaften for including this volume in the present series and for a subsidy towards the cost of its publication. Finally I would like to thank R. Merkelbach for his help in connection with this project. Robert W. Daniel INTRODUCTION The papyri J 384 (previously V) and J 395 (previously W) of the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden are now usually consulted in K. Preisendanz' standard edition, 2 Papyri Graecae Magicae (Stuttgart 1974), and referred to as PGM XII and XIII respective1y. These two large papyri are among the most important magical texts that have survived from late antiquity - especially J 395 with its famous 'Leiden Cosmogony'.

"The Greek magical papyri" is a collection of magical spells and formulas, hymns, and rituals from Greco-Roman Egypt, dating from the second century B.C. to the fifth century A.D. Containing a fresh translation of the Greek papyri, as well as Coptic and Demotic texts, this new translation has been brought up to date and is now the most comprehensive collection of this literature, and the first ever in English. The Greek Magical Papyri in Transition is an invaluable resource for scholars in a wide variety of fields, from the history of religions to the classical languages and literatures, and it will fascinate those with a general interest in the occult and the history of magic. "One of the major achievements of classical and related scholarship over the last decade."—Ioan P. Culianu, Journal for the Study of Judaism "The enormous value of this new volume lies in the fact that these texts will now be available to a much wider audience of readers, including historians or religion, anthropologists, and psychologists."—John G. Gager, Journal of Religion "[This book] shows care, skill and zest. . . . Any worker in the field will welcome this sterling performance."—Peter Parsons, Times Literary Supplement

This collection explores the importance of magic within Early Christianity

This handbook situates early Christian meals in their broader context, with a focus on the core topics that aid understanding of Greco-Roman meal practice, and how this relates to Christian origins. In addition to looking at the broader Hellenistic context, the contributors explain the unique nature of Christian meals, and what they reveal about early Christian communities and the development of Christian identity. Beginning with Hellenistic documents and authors before moving on to the New Testament material itself, according to genre - Gospels, Acts, Letters, Apocalyptic Literature - the handbook culminates with a section on the wider resources that describe daily life in the period, such as medical documents and inscriptions. The literary, historical, theological and philosophical aspects of these resources are also considered, including such aspects as the role of gender during meals; issues of monotheism and polytheism that arise from the structure of the meal; how sacrifice is understood in different meal practices; power dynamics during the meal and issues of inclusion and exclusion at meals.

A collection of papers with new insights on ancient religion, read at a colloquium in honour of Professor H.S. Versnel ("Inconsistencies in Greek and Roman Religion"). The contributions, presented by nine leading scholars in the field, cover many areas of the religious experience of the Greeks and Romans: myth and ritual (W. Burkert), the gods (F. Zeitlin), cult, festivals, sacrifice. Several papers consider methodological problems and the progress of scholarship; they highlight the contribution of H.S. Versnel to the field. The papers are based on a wide range of sources: pagan and Christian, literary and epigraphical and iconographical. The collection will fascinate all scholars interested in ancient religion, whether they study malign magic, the Imperial cult or general theory.

Covering the Hellenistic and Imperial periods in both pagan polytheistic as well as Jewish monotheistic settings, this edited collection focuses on individuation in everyday religious practices across the ancient Mediterranean as identified in institutional developments and philosophical reflections on the self.